Global materials tech company Magnesium Elektron (Manchester, England) has announced the launch of magnesium for its first biomedical applications, using the company’s Synermag® magnesium alloy in CE approved, cardiovascular applications.

Magnesium Elektron has worked in mission-critical applications in nuclear and aerospace industries, and these new biomedical applications mark the first proven and tested uses in a new industry segment. The global medical implants market was valued at about $200 billion in 2016, with research projecting the global orthopedics medical device market to reach a value of $41.2 billion by 2019. Magnesium Elektron has invested $2.5M in establishing a dedicated manufacturing facility, the SynerMag® Technology Centre, which achieved ISO 13485 certification in 2014, an internationally recognized quality standard for medical devices.

“We are very pleased to have produced a bioresorbable magnesium alloy that provides bio-compatibility and bio-safety, which can be used in multiple applications, as detailed in our new whitepaper,” commented Graham Wardlow, Managing Director at Magnesium Elektron. “We are also proud of our industry achievements to date, with our SynerMag 410 magnesium alloy being used as the platform material in BIOTRONIK’S (a world leading manufacturer of cardio and endovascular medical devices) Magmaris scaffold. This has already been successfully used to treat patients in Germany, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain, Brazil, New Zealand and Singapore since its launch in the summer of 2016.” The Magmaris magnesium scaffold is used to treat stenotic (narrowed or constricted) areas of the coronary arteries.

The whitepaper (and relevant case study), “Using Metallic Bioresorbable Magnesium Alloys in Medical Devices,” discuss the benefits of magnesium for numerous biomedical applications and the metal’s advantages compared with materials including titanium and steel, and other bioresorbable materials such as polymers, for use as bioresorbable implants. Access to the studies is available by request at https://www.magnesium-elektron.com/global-downloads/

Magnesium Elektron will introduce the use of magnesium alloys in biomedical applications at Medtec Europe, April 4-6 2017, where access to the industry whitepaper and case study will also be available.

Magnesium Elektron is an operating company of Luxfer Group, a global materials technology company specializing in the design and manufacture of high-performance materials, components and gas-containment devices for environmental, healthcare, protection and specialty

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